(Picture caption: Kilikiti took off in the Wellington region in the 1980s and it is making a comeback with Kilikiti at the Basin.)
Not even “busted knees” will stop Fa’alogo Va’ai gearing up for Kilikiti at the Basin, where the Samoan game will make its debut at the renowned Wellington cricket venue next month.
On 9 March, Cricket Wellington, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples (the Ministry) and the Samoan Kilikiti Community will host three games of kilikiti, including a celebrity game as well as cultural performances throughout the day, at Cello Basin Reserve.
For Fa’alogo, who is the Ministry’s Central Partnerships Lead, behind the scenes event co-organiser and a super sub on the day, seeing Kilikiti at the Basin come to fruition is not only a dream come true but a way to unite the region’s Pacific communities.
“It is a fulfilment of moe miti or mo’omo’oga (dreams) that many of our matua/elders and kilikiti players dreamt of many years ago, and it is finally going to happen,” Fa’alogo says.
Fa’alogo is somewhat of a veteran at the game, having started as a ball boy, then outside fielder and batter as a teenager.
Samoan families who migrated to the Wellington region introduced kilikiti to the area before it really took off in the 1980s with the Samoan Church games, he explains.
“Kilikiti was played on three main parks in Porirua (Ascot Park, Mana College and Cannons Creek Park) because of the available kilikiti pitches."
Along with family and friends, Fa’alogo was part of the successful Porirua Lucky Stars team during the 2000s which went unbeaten in an international kilikiti tournament in Brisbane in 2004, before losing the final.
“Between 2002 – 2009, I was the Project Manager for the Wellington Kilikiti Tournament which started out with just 20 teams and grew to include 76 teams.
“Up to 25,000 people attended the annual week-long tournaments.”
At the time, Fa’alogo was working at the then called Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs (now the Ministry for Pacific Peoples).
“The tournament became the iconic event for the Samoan community south of Auckland, and it helped bring together communities, families, villages, churches.”
The idea of Kilikiti at the Basin was first discussed during the game’s heyday, but it never eventuated.
Fa’alogo’s involvement as a member of the Nuku Ora (Sport Wellington) Tù Manawa Active Aotearoa Funding Panel saw an opportunity to work with Cricket Wellington arise, reigniting discussions about the event.
Working closely with Cricket Wellington and the Pacific kilikiti community, Fa’alogo and several others are now bringing the event to life.
“Hopefully one day soon, the Basin Reserve will host the Kilikiti World Cup…imagine Pacific peoples chanting, singing, the colour, the parades up and down the Streets of Wellington – Tongans walking up Kent Terrace, Samoans coming down Adelaide Road, Tokelauans up and down Tory Street and so on.
“If you think the 2022 Rugby League World Cup was something, the Kilikiti World Cup at the Basin will surpass that…it’s me dreaming.”
Kilikiti at the Basin takes place on 9 March, from 9:30am.